Juicing machine



Oct.` 3, 1939. F. L. MCCULLocH JUICING MACHINE Filed May '7, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet l (ftornegs.

Oct. 3, 1939. F. L. McCULLOCH 2,174,909

JUICING MACHINE Filed May '7, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 :inventor ELM woah "d EMM/#M JUICING MACHINE Filed May 7, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented oa. 3, 1939- meme mesma mau-icl; nuecenwh; Tampa, Application May 193s, seran No. zoass'z,

'z claims. `(ci. icc-m' The present invention relates to improvements in juicing machines and more particularly refers to a machine for expressing the juice from oranges, grapefruit and other citrusfruits. 5 It is an object of the invention to provide a 'compact and simply-operating machine for the expeditious squeezing or expressing of the juices from such citrus fruits as have an oily skin or rind, where the expressing operation is ordinarily l attended with the squeezing of the oils from the skin. or rind, the, oils and the fruit juices customarily becoming commingled whereby the fruit- Pjuice depreciates commercially owing to -the strong taste therein ofthe oil.

l- A It is the primary purpose of the present invention to provide' a machine which will .eliminate the objectionable oils from the fruit juices without in any way interfering with the expressing operationof the juices.

2r) In a more specific aspect the invention has for its further object to exclude the oils from the fruit juices by at all timesmaintaining thel same apart so that at no time' will the oils contaminate and pollute the, fruit juices, the oils being'maintained apart and removed separately from the juices. *e y The invention also contemplates an improved construction of knife mechanism for cutting through the skin or rind ofthe fruit and an im- 3o proved operating mechanism for said knives, and in operating in conjunction with the knives -a presser plate, the'knives and presser plate coming together upon the fruit in timed relation.

A morespecirlc objecti of the invention is also to provide an improved fabricated knife construction in which the individual blades of the` `4,', compensating for destructive strains in the mechanism and to allow of a certain loose play whereby to avoid breakage where variations insizes of fruits are encountered.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, theinvention willbe more fully described hereinafter, and will be more particularly pointed out in the` claims appended hereto. I

A In the drawings, wherein like symbols refer to like or corresponding parts throughout the sev- 55., eral views.

Figure l is` a side view, with parts broken away and| with parts shown in section, of an improved juicing machine constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken substanii` tially along the line 2-2 in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the improved cup employed.'

Figure 4 is a side view of the same.

Figure' is a horizontal section taken on'the 10 line 5-5 in Figure 1.

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary section showing a detail o'f the cushion mechanism.

Figure V'I is a side view of the improved knife land its operating arm. 15

Figure 8 is a plan view of thesame, and

Figure 9 is an end view ofthe knife structure.

Referring more particularly to thel drawings, Il designates generally a pedestal or frame for the machine having a flanged base II on which v20 the machine stands. Carried by the frame, or builtwithin thesame, is a juice receptacle I2 having an inclined bottom I3 leading toward one end of .the vmachine and terminating in a spout Il by which the pure fruit juice is delivered to a 25 can or other depository. In the spout I4 is a strainer II f any appropriate form for excluding seeds or the like fromY the juice. I

The receptacle I2 receives therein a guide member 24 having a seat I6 or horizontal surface 30. forremovably receiving a cup I1. The cup I1 is y provided with a handle Il for convenience in removing and seating the same in place.

'I'he cup as shown in Figure 3 is formed as to its bottom with A`intersecting slots I 9 and 20 35 meeting substantially centrally so that the two slots form across, This cross-shaped slot. I9,` 20 has a rim 2I upstanding all around the same at a. substantialelevation above the bottom 22 of the cup, the rim 2I, in Figure 2, being most clearly 40 shown in this upstanding position. Cross knives are adapted to be thrust up through-the cross slots I9, 20 to penetrate the fruit which is heldin the cupI as more particularly described hereinafter.

Ifepreferred an vextension 22 may be formed on I the bottom 22 of the cup in a downward'prolongation of the rim 2l taking the form of the crossslots for the purpose of reinforcing the slotted 1 bottom 22 of the cup particularlythe weakestI 50 l point, namely along the margins of the cross slots IS'and 2l.

A guide member 24, shown more particularly in Figure 5, ismade a part of the framework or may be made separately and mounted within the juice 55 receive the extension 28 of the cup yI1 when the same is put in place upon'the frame.

cup I1, the knife being more particularly shown in Figures 7, 8 and 9 and consistinggenerally of a curved blade 21- extending at right angles to a Pcooperating nat blade 28 having inclined -upper 10 edges 29 rising from low ends to a high central A knife is' carried within the frame bmw the portion at which is formed a slot 8l to receive .the

curved blade 21. In other words the knife 21 isdisposed at nghtngles to and through the companion knife blade 28. The blade 28 is set 82. The operating arm carries clamps 88 in which the butt end of the knife 21 is seated'and in a socket 8I at the free end of an operating arm into which it is more firmly thrust by pressure of v the fruit upon the upper curved cutting edge of blade 21 as the knife is forced upwardlyinto the fruit.

The arm 82 is aiilxed upon a shaft 88'. The arm 82 liesbeneath the long slot 25 inthe guide member 24,- the blade 21 'rises through the long slot 25 and the nat blade 28 lies through the cross'slot 28. In a similar way the curved blade 21 lies upwardly through the slot I8 in the bottom of the cup and its extension while the fiat blade 28 rises upwardly throughfcross slot 28 of the cup.

The shaft 83' is journaled in the frame. Aidxed to theshaft 88-outside the juice receptacle I2 is an operating lever 84. The juice receptacle I2 may be offset upwardly, as indicated in Figure 2, so as not to interfere with the oscillating vertical movement of lever 84 which is disposed in the path of a rotating cam 85 whereby the lever 34 is the operating arm 42. This operating arm 42 isA offset so as to extend about and above the cup I1,

the upper end of the arm 42 being connected to operate, that is to lift and lower, the presser plate 43. The presser plate 43, as shown in Figure 6, has affixed thereto la stem 44 slotted as indicated at 45 to slidev over a pin 48 carried by the rod 41. The 41 is pivoted at its lower end, as indicateP at 55, to an upstanding bracket 58 of the frame. A coil spring 51 is wound helicallyabout the 'stem' 44 andy abuts against the head 48 and the presser plate 48. The rod` is formed with ja head 48 in which is an opening 48 for the s tem 44 to slide in. The head 48 is received between the perforated ears 58 of the operating arm 42,' thepin 48 may'rnove inslot 45 while coil spring 51 is is placed upon 'the spring or wire guides 5I, the

functionof which is to hold the fruit in the center of the cup until the presser plate 48 can descend upon the same and hold the fruit in position. The crank handle .48 is now'turned to cause the wheels 35and 38 to rotate; thus rotating the cam 85. The cam 35 and also thepin 4I on the wheel 88 rotate' in the direction of the arrow indicated in Figure 1. The relative arrangement between t pin 4I and the cam 85 is `such that the pin 4'I will travel inv advance of the carn 35. Thus when a piecei of fruit is put in the cupl I1 the presser plate 48 will first be brought down upon the fruit so as to hold the same-in the cup. In this position the presser plate will act as a backing to prevent the fruit being forced upward whenthe knife is brought up beneath the fruit es is then promptly done because the cam 85 is only slightly displaced angularly on the wheel 88 from thev pin 4|. The cam 35 raises thellever 84 and the arm 82 onusing the knives 21 and'28 to cut through the bottom of the fruit in cross cuts overcomparatively wide linear distances. The cam 35 extends only a short circumferential distance about the wheel 38 so that it will pass from under the lever- 84 in a short time allowing the knives to fall. The pin 4I however will still be travelling toward the bottomofwheel 88, duringall of which timeL the presser plate 48 !is being lowered upon theV cut fruit, thus extruding and enpressing the juice therefrom through the cross cuts down directly into the slots I9 and 28 of the' cup and the slots 25 and 28 of the guide member 24, the juice being caught upon the inclined bottom I8 and deflected out the spout I4/r the juice being strained by 4strainer I5 so that only pure juice isl delivered from the spout I4.

On the downward stroke the fruit is fairly completely flattened out in the cup I1. The pressure put upon it may be so great as in the final analysis that the wires lor springs 5I, as shown in Figure 2, are flattened down to thedotted line position. In order' thatvbreakage of the parts be avoided during the nal downward thrust of the presser plate 48, suchplate is yieldably carried by' the head 48. When the presser plate 48 is unable to go down any further, but the mechanism requires that the head 48 still descend, the

compressed'. When the operating arm 42 again rises, the spring 51 will expand and the stem 44 head 48 being held in the ears by means of the` Guide strips 5I are shownmore particularly in Figures 2v and 3, the same formed preferablyof spring metal or the like having upper higher ends and lower endswhich are curved reversely in two directions, including a seat curve 52 curving downwardly toward the bottom of the cup and actually' seated upon the bottom just inside the upstanding rim 2i. At the seat portion, the strips or guides 5I may be soldered or otherwise afhxed to the bottom of the cup. Hump portions 58 are formed in the guides t clear therim 2l. u "5 In operation, an orange, grapefruit 0x' the llike squeezed into the slots of the cup I1 by reason of move downwardly in head 48 until pin 48 contacts thev upper wall of slot 45.

The arm 42 lifts and lowers the presser plate 55 48, while the control rod 41 defines the arcof movement of the plate/4 8.

As above stated the juice will be directly the cross cuts made in the fruit directly ove these'4 slots. As the fruit is flattened upon the bottom of the cup I1 oil will quite naturally be expressed from the skin or rind of the fruit but such skin or rind does not lie over the slots and if it did the slots would not form any backing against which thepreser plate could operate to extrude oils from the skins. Thus the oils which are pressed out of the skin or rind are collected upon the floor 22 of the cup and are actually prevented from overflowing into the slots I9 and v28 by the upstanding rim 2|. The cup I is liftto overflow the rim 2l.

The springs or wires 5| will free the hulk after the expressing operation due tothe inherent resiliency of these sprungs in straightening themselves out. The reverse curves given to these springs will tend to elevate the outer portions to the upper position shown in full lines in Figure 2 and this action will tend to lift the remains of the fruit so that it may be easily'removed by hand. The cup can also be lifted out and inverted to drop the hulk and oil at the same time into 'a suitable receptacle.

In this manner only clear juice goes to the glass or container. The oil, pulp, rag and seed are left in the peel and thrown out when the cup I1 is removed. Some fruit has extra thick peel. In such cases the spring 51 operates to prevent breakage in the connections between the presser plate 43 and its operating mechanism;

The machine is easily cleaned as the cross knives can be lifted out, cleaned and sharpened. Pressure in action from the top tends to tighten the knives in their mountings.

The cup l1 can be easily put in place owing to the extension 23 and its t in the open seat I6.

As indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 the crossknife releases and drops before it cuts through the top peel or skin of the orange. Oil accumulates on the top peel whilev it is being pressed and if the orange was cut through the oil -would run down in the juice. The knife may reach only within three-elghths or one-half inch of the pressure plate before it releases and drops back in the slots.

The knives make a clear incision in the bottom of the orange and continue to move upward while the pressure plate is pressing down until the knife andpressure plate are within a predetermined distance of `one another, then the knife is released and drops back in thev slot as the pressure plate continues tomove down and force the juice out through the cuts in the bottom of the orange. The top of the orange is not cut and any oil forced out the top of the orange remains on the skin and cannot get in the juice as there is no opening for it to go through. 'I'he shape and position of the cam 35 governs the speed and operation of the knife.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in' the details of construction and design of the above specifically described embodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof, `such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of the following claims:

What is claimed is:

1. A juicing machine comprising a fruit receiver, a. presser device, a knife, said fruit receiver having an opening in the bottom thereof to receive said knife, means to urge said presser device and knife upon the fruit in substantially opposite directions whereby to incise the fruit only along the slot and to express the juice through the slot, and means for excluding the oils expressed by the presser device from said slot.

2. A juicing machine comprising a fruit r'eceiver having a cross slotted bottom portion, a movable knife of cross form, means for driving the knife upwardly through the slotted bottom of the receiver, a presser plate above the receiver, means for lowering the presser plate upon the fruit, and means to separate the juice expressed from thefruit through the slotted bottom of the receiver and the oil expressed from the rind into the receiver. 1

3. A juicing machine comprisingY a fruit receiver having a slotted bottom, a movable knife be1owthe"bottom, means for moving the knife upwardly through the slot, a presser plate above the receiver, means for raising and lowering said presser plate, said receiver having a rim extending about the edge of the slot. e

4. A juicing machine comprising a receiver for the fruit having a slot therein, a rim around the slot upstanding from the bottom of the receiver, a knife moving up and down through the slot to cut the fruit above the slot, and means for pressing down upon the fruit to express the juice through the incision directly into the slot and for expressing the oils from the rind only against the bottom of the receiver at a level below that of said rim.

5. A juicing machine comprising a receiver having a slot in the bottom thereof and having an upstanding rim about said slot, means for cutting the. fruit in line with said slot, means for pressing the fruit downwardly against the bottom of the receiver, spring strips having upstanding outer portions with lowerparts bent into reverse curves with a convex seating portion presented against the bottom of the receiver and a reversely curved humped portion extending over said rim, the outer portions of said spring Astrips adapted to be forced down by the squeezing of the fruit and to subsequently lift the squeezed fruit clear of `the bottom of the receiver.

6. A juicing machine comprising a receiver for fruit, a presser plate above said receiver having a slotted stem, a pivoted member for controlling the direction of movement of said presser plate,

and rotary means for raising and lowering said arm, said last named means travelling slightly in advance of the high point of said cam.

FREDERICK L. MCCULLOCH. 

